Improvement in cotton and hay presses



UNTTED STATES ELAM STOOKBRIDGE,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF HOUSTON, TEXAS.

IMPROVEMENT IN COTTON AND HAY PRESSES.

To @ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ELAM STOCKBRIDGE, of Houston, in the county of Harris and State of Texas, have invented an Improvement in Horizontal Cotton-Presses for Gompressing Cotton, Hay, and other Articles and Substances for Baling; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-4 Figure l is alongitudinal vertical section Aof my invention, taken in the line cv x of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan or top View of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre.- sponding parts in the two figures.

My invention is only useful in connection 1 with horizontal toggle-presses, as the gravity of the follower and lever accomplish the same .object in vertical presses as that designed to be accomplished in horizontal presses by my invention; and therefore my invention con-` sists in the arrangement, in combination with the ordinary ropes and chains and windlass used in toggle-presses, of auxiliary ropes or chains for drawing a horizont-al follower out of a horizontal pressing-box, and the horizontal toggle and main cords or chains into operative position, or bringing the same in position for opera-tion after the first pressing operation has been performed by them.

Itis essential to use horizontal toggle-presses, as they avoid the loss of power expended in overcoming the gravity of the follower and the cotton being pressed, and also avoid the labor of carrying the cotton some fteen feet high to place in the press-box. The expense of building horizontal presses of this character is also much less than that which attends the construction of verti cal presses, as the labor of lifting and adjusting the parts to a high position is avoided.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, Twill proceed to describe it.

A represents a horizontal frame, in which a press-box, B, Vis placed. The frame and press-box are both constructed in a strong and durable manner, the box being provided with doors a b at its upper surface, so:that the bale may be readily removed therefrom and the loose material placed therein with facility.

O is the follower, which works within the press-box B. This follower has a bar, D, attached to it at right angles, and to the outer end of the bar D two toggles, E E, are attached by bolts or pivots c c. The outer end of each toggle E is provided with a frictionbar, F, which is firmly secured in the frame A, the ends of said bar projecting some distance each side of the frame A.

From the center of the cross-bar F two bars, e e, project at right angles. These bars form the support for a windlass, G, which is siniplya shaft or drum having two ropes or chains, a b', attached to it, so that one will wind upchain a passes through eyes f at the ends of the bar F, and is attached to the ends of the toggles E E, and the rope or chain b passes through the center of the bar F andaround pulleys g g, and its ends are also attached to the ends of the toggles E E.

To the windlass G a rope or chain, 7L, is attached, said rope or chain being connected vdirectly to the bar I), as shown clearly in Fig. 2.

The operation will be readily seen, and is as follows: Thevfollower C is drawn to the outer end of the press-box B and the material to be compressed is placed within said box. The windlass G is then turned in the direction indicated by arrow l, (see Fig. 2,) and the follower will be forced within the press-box B, in consequence of the rope or chain bdrawing the outer ends of the toggles EE toward each other7 and the ends of said toggles bearing against the cross-bar F, the leverage power of course increasing as the follower is forced within the box, and the space correspondingly decreasing. XVhen the compressed article is bound, the bale is removed and the windlass G is turned in the opposite direction, and the follower is drawn out from the box by the rope or chain it, the rope or chain c drawing outward or extending the toggles E E, so that the rope or chain h may perform its work. The chains or ropes a /L cause the follower to move in a straight line out of the box, the ropeh causing a central draft and counteracting the tendency of the follower to bind in its box by the lateral or oblique draft of the ropes or chains a a,which roller, d, and these rollers bear againsta crosson it as the other is unwound. The rope or The arrangement, in combination with the horizontal ropes or chains b' b', Vertical Windlass G, horizontal toggles E E, and horizontal follower C, of the auxiliary horizontal ropes or Chains ct aand 7L, in the manner and for the purposes herein set forth.

ELAM STOCKBRIDGE.

\Vitnesses:

R. H. BOXLEY, VIL'LIAM ANDRE. 

